Kia Ora Families,

This newsletter is reaching your inbox as we begin our 5 days of celebrations as our Parish and School commemorate 175 years of service in the Howick community. It is a significant milestone to reach, making our school and parish one of the earliest established in Auckland. 

Parish Connect We are very much looking forward to the 175th celebrations over this weekend beginning with drinks and nibbles hosted in our school hall from 5 pm to 7 pm tonight, Friday night. There is an amazing display chronicling our 175 year journey as well as a fabulous digital presentation that will run while old friends catch up and reconnect. All welcome!
Tomorrow, Saturday at 10 am many invited guests will attend the Memorial Mass in our Parish Church. At 12.30 pm we then have the official Anniversary Luncheon with guest speakers which we are very much looking forward to.
On Sunday we celebrate Mass with the Bishop at 9 am in our Parish Church. Later in the day, we have the opportunity to take a picnic along to the old school site in Granger Road from 1 pm with the chance to have a look around the old school building that remains there.
Monday sees our school open day from 9.30 am to 12.30 pm where lessons across the curriculum will be taught in all our classes for visitors to come and see. Tours will begin in our school staffroom with members of our student council showing visitors around. At 1.25 pm, after lunch, we will enjoy our Star Idol talent quest together in our school hall.
On Tuesday of next week, our Feast Day, the Feast of the Assumption of Mary, we celebrate Mass together at our Parish Church. We will also enjoy our annual house Tapu-ae competition later in the day.
A very full 5 days of celebrations for all to enjoy.

Please follow this link to this Sunday’s readings.

Step Back in Time Day Today, to begin the celebrations of our 175th we enjoyed a ‘Step back in Time Day’ with our fabulous staff and students dressing in old-fashioned clothing and engaging in lessons like students of yester-year would have done. There was not a TV in use and not a calculator, ipad, chromebook or computer in sight. There wasn’t even any lights used during the day. Instead, learning was undertaken in books and on whiteboads with whiteboard pens (the closest we can come to the slates used in the old days!). Great fun was had by all, especially when Sister Cathryn Wills Pickard visited in her habit. Sr Cathryn was the last Mercy Sister to lead the school as Principal back in the late 1970’s. She had many a story to tell while she shared with our students what the Religious Sisters used to wear when they taught at Our Lady Star of the Sea.

School and Zone Cross Country Last week we enjoyed our school Cross County. It was fabulous to see so many parents and community members coming along to encourage our young runners on. There was a great competitive spirit on the day with wonderful examples of the great sportsmanship shown by our students. Representatives of our school participated in the HPPA Zone Cross Country this week. Our squad of runners competed against 14 local schools with around 110 children in each race. We were so proud of the effort and attitude of our students, with special congratulations to Carla Shaw who came second in the Year 4 girls race, Mya Hillerby who came fourth in the same race, Isobella Evans who came third in the Year 6 girls race and Matthew Bastian who came third in the Year 6 boys race. Well done to every member of our squad for representing us so well.  See later in the newsletter for more images and details.

Senior Speech Competition Our Senior Speech competition was held on Wednesday afternoon with 13 speeches delivered under the theme of ‘Guardianship’. Mrs Giddy and Mrs Bennetts from our Parish joined Mrs Campbell as the adjudicating team and we were all impressed by the high caliber of the speeches. Each contestant delivered their speech with such confidence. It was also great to hear so many references to tikanga Maori woven through the speeches, a real testament to the importance of preserving, protecting and promoting Maori language and culture. Special congratulations goes to Kish Bassi who took out top spot with his engaging speech entitled Kaitiaki of Mother Earth, to our second place student Kaisyn Dang with his well executed speech entitled The Stars of Matariki and to our third place student Mia Yandell who spoke on the topic of Guardianship of our Brains.

Health Consultation Outcomes At our Student, Parent and Teacher conferences held just over two weeks ago, we also undertook a health consultation in our Information Centre. We presented elements of the Year 1 to 3 and 4 to 6 health, sexuality and personal safety Health Concepts. Over 100 parents visited and had their say. Not only was it an opportunity for parents and caregivers to learn about what is covered in each learning area over three years, but it was also valuable for us to understand what our community see as important for us to emphasise as we plan our delivery. Here is what you told us:

Of the 14 Year 1 to 3 concepts, over 80% of those who visited thought all were very important to emphasise.
A small number of parents thought the following concepts were less important: different types of touch, appropriate ways to express needs and wants, simple ways to stay safe online and the correct naming of anatomical body parts.

Of the 14 Year 4 to 6 concepts, almost 80% of respondents felt it was very important to emphasise all concepts. A small number thought the following concepts were less important: an appreciation that all life is sacred and a gift from God, an understanding that you grow and change throughout life, strategies to manage different types of relationships, and the difference between good and bad choices.

There was the opportunity to make comments as part of the consultation. Thank you to those who did make comments. There were comments that reflected different opinions amongst our community, particularly around body part naming and gender issues. There was consensus around many areas including these examples: ‘It is important that our young students are well informed of these points at a young age to prepare them’,  ‘Thank you for consulting on such important & relevant topics’, ‘It is great to see school teaching how to keep yourselves safe from a young age’, ‘Important to seek consent from parents so they can make a choice who/where their children first get exposed to this information. Suggest online safety is taught side by side.’
One question arose about how we educate around sexual orientation. For those who discussed this when visiting the consultation, you would have heard that we teach our students at this age and stage that we are all made in the image and likeness of God and we always show respect for ourselves and others. At this age and stage, this is the extent of our discussions. 

Moving forward we will use the outcomes of this consultation when planning our focus in teaching health, safety and sexuality learning programmes, placing importance on the concepts that were considered most important and ensuring that lighter coverage is given to those areas that were considered of lesser importance.

Covid Notifications We have been largely free from covid cases since the beginning of the term, however, over the past couple of days a few cases have begun to surface. Please continue to notify us if your child tests positive so that we can alert those close to that child to monitor closely for symptoms.

Looking Ahead Our Gymnastics Team are getting very excited with their HPPA competition coming up next Friday 18th August, we wish them luck and God’s blessings as they prepare. We also keep our Year 5 and 6 students who are due to go to camp on Kawau Island the following week in our prayers as they prepare for an incredible experience. We look forward to the opportunity to support the Cancer Society with our ‘wear yellow’ day on Friday 25th August, students are asked to bring a gold coin in support of the amazing work the Cancer Society do.

Wishing you God’s blessings as we celebrate 175 years as Parish and School this weekend. Have a safe and happy fortnight ahead when we will share our next newsletter.

Ngā mihi nui, Tōfa soifua and cǐ zhì jìng lǐ,

Louise Campbell
Principal

From the ruins of the second Star of the Sea a third Star arose. A description of the new buildings taken from the Sisters of Mercy archives captures the joy and enthusiasm that their new home brought to the Sisters. ‘Italian renaissance in design forming a spacious court overlooking the sea. The setting is admirably picturesque. The hill sweeps down magnificently to the bay, a wide expanse of untrammelled water.In the distance the Islands of the Gulf shimmer in the summer haze or loom  through the mists of winter.’

We look forward to spending time together at the 175th Jubilee celebrations this weekend.

Next week we celebrate our school Feast Day, the Feast of the Assumption, where we remember how Mary was taken to heaven body and soul. Mary is remembered as the First Disciple, the one who heard God’s call and said ‘Yes’. Throughout the month of August we remember others who heard the call of God and lived their lives as witnesses for us.
St Dominic – August 4 – After he had an apparition of Our Lady, he promoted the Rosary until the day he died.
St Maximillion Kolbe – August 14 – volunteered to die in place of a stranger in the German death camp of Auschwitz.
St Augustine – August 28 – an early Christian theologian. One of his well know sayings is “When we sing we pray twice.”

St Dominic	St Maximillion Kolbe	St Augustine

Each one of them helps us to come to know Christ through their words and deeds.

A  group of our young learners will receive the Sacrament of Confirmation and First Holy Communion next weekend. This is a huge milestone in their faith journey. The sense of excitement and anticipation within the group is heady.  The Catholic catechism says that ‘Confirmation deepens our baptismal life that calls us to be missionary witnesses of Jesus Christ in our families, neighbourhoods, society and the world.’  We look forward to watching our newly confirmed grow as missionary witnesses of Christ.  

Me whakakā to wairua kia kite a iwi katoa
You should be a shining lamp, giving light to all around you

Prayer Intention: We pray for our young learners who will  be receiving the Sacraments next weekend. 

Attendance Dues for Term 3 are due on 30 August.   If you have outstanding amounts owing and have not been in contact with Sue Yandell this year, please make a time to meet and discuss a payment plan for the remainder of the year.

Assistance is available for families who are experiencing financial strain.

HPPA Cross Country

Congratulations to the 46 students from Years 4-6 who represented our school at the HPPA interschool cross country on Tuesday. As usual it was a demanding run through mud and well trodden surfaces. The year 6s had the hardest course given they were the last races of the day and their course was longer. Every competitor tried their very best and represented our school with pride. It was great to see the smiling faces as they returned to our school base satisfied by a job well done. We were very proud of every student who took part.

Special congratulations to Carla Shaw, Mya Hillerby, Isobella Evans and Matthew Bastian for finishing in the top four of their respective races.

Matariki Soup

Matariki is a special time for New Zealand as we celebrate the Māori new year. This Matariki, the environmental team grew several different crops to transform into Matariki soup. Carrots, broccoli and  cauliflower were harvested from the school garden beds. Over the span of two lunch breaks we chopped, sliced and peeled the majority of crops that we had been growing over the last few months.   Mr Baird, the school caretaker, cooked the soup over a few hours and served it to many students at lunch time. A few tubs of soup were filled and gifted to the Helping Hands team before the soup ran out. Many students enjoyed the soup and many requested more.  In my opinion it was absolutely delicious and the process was rather enjoyable.

Many thanks to Mr Baird, Miss Marten, Mrs Amy Jansen and to Mrs Chelsea Yandell for helping the Environmental team to grow and cook the Matariki soup. 

By Amaya Wickramasinghe – Environmental Team Leader – Room 22 

As a result of everyone’s hard work the amount of rubbish around our school has dramatically decreased. We really appreciate the efforts of everyone to send rubbish free lunches to school each day.  This is also generating some great discussions about other ways we can take care of our precious world. Thanks for your continued support.  You are helping with our mission for Star of the Sea to be rubbish free in 2023! 

This coming week we are asking for toiletries for class collections.  At the end of our collections weeks, the class who has collected the most over the weeks will be TREATED TO PIZZA FOR LUNCH.

Each Friday this term we will send home a notice to advise the following week’s collections.  We do appreciate your support with these weekly collections.   If you miss a week then do feel free to send in the following week.    You have been sent a calendar of the weekly collections coming up in case you wish to get organised in advance.

GALA RAFFLE TICKETS

Thankyou to the families who have already returned their raffle ticket butts and money.  There are plenty more tickets available to sell and the family who sell the most raffle tickets will be treated to a RIDE TO SCHOOL IN A POLICE CAR.  Requests for more tickets can be by a note with the sold tickets or by emailing:  [email protected].

Raffle prizes:    1st prize – $1,000.00 – yes one thousand dollars
2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th prizes – $100.00 each.

Pastoral Services Group Administrator & Communications Officer

The Catholic Diocese of Auckland is seeking a methodical, cheerful, dedicated, and highly efficient person for the role of PSG Administrator & Communications Officer to provide administration and operational support to the Leader Pastoral Services Group and providing communications support for the Diocese.  This is a part-time role of 25 hours per week with flexibility of hours between 9.am and 3.pm.

Excellent interpersonal, verbal and written communication skills, along with proficient IT competency in Word, Excel, Free Source Design e.g. Canva and knowledge of websites (WordPress), social media, Facebook. Can work under own initiative be creative and have a can-do approach to work and is efficient, accurate and organised.

For more details, and a full position description, please visit the Diocesan website:
https://www.aucklandcatholic.org.nz/staff-vacancies/

Applications close on 18 August 2023.

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How well do you know the traffic and road safety rules? Choose your test and take on the challenge to see.

Approximately 1.3 million people die each year as a result of road traffic crashes. Between 20 and 50 million people suffer non-fatal injuries, with many incurring a disability as a result of their injury. Road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death for children and young adults aged 5 – 29 years. The main reason behind these road accidents is not following/knowing traffic & road safety rules.

Trafficquiz.com is FREE to use website developed with an aim to spread awareness regarding traffic rules and road safety rules. Through trafficquiz.com school students can learn and test their knowledge about traffic & road safety rules in an entertaining way i.e. by playing quizzes. Teachers and Parents can also use trafficquiz.com  regularly to refresh their knowledge about traffic, road safety & child safety rules. School bus drivers can also regularly use it to learn and be conscious about following traffic rules. Benefit of being ONLINE is that trafficquiz.com can be used anytime, anywhere on any device.

We request you to kindly share the links given below with students, parents, teachers and the driving staff, so that everyone can learn and be conscious about following road safety and traffic rules. This can save many lives.

The links are as follows:

 1.    For Age group (5 to 9 years):
 https://trafficquiz.com/road-safety-quiz-junior-level-1/

2.    For Age group (10 to 15 years):
https://trafficquiz.com/road-safety-quiz-secondary-level-1/

3.  For Parents (Child safety quizzes):
https://trafficquiz.com/child-safety-quiz-for-parents-level-1/

4.    For Parents and Teachers (Traffic & road safety rules quizzes):
https://trafficquiz.com/road-safety-quiz-for-adults-level-1/

5.    For Drivers and support staff:
https://trafficquiz.com/road-safety-quiz-for-adults-level-1/

6. Road Signs quiz

Why is it necessary?

 About three quarters (73%) of all road traffic deaths occur among young males under the age of 25 years.
More than half of all road traffic deaths are among vulnerable road users: pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists.
Road traffic injuries cause considerable economic losses to individuals, their families, and to nations as a whole.

Kindly encourage everyone to follow traffic rules. We hope you will be a part of this initiative. Thanking you for your support in advance. If you have any queries then please reply back to this email.

Yours Sincerely,

Team trafficquiz.com

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